Alston, bias and cartoonists in the 1990s

Senator Richard Alston’s allegations of bias on the ABC were insistent – and in the main, not substantiated by independent investigations. But Alston’s persistence was great fodder to cartoonists who presented many interpretations of the situation. Many generously made their work available to Friends of the ABC’s newsletters and flyers.

June Factor takes the helm

Dr June Factor was an academic researcher with a special interest in children’s folklore when she became president of the Friends of the ABC in 1996. She had previously been a teacher, had broadcast frequently on Melbourne’s community radio station 3CR, and was friends with Senator Janet Powell, the Victorian Friends’ president from 1992. June readily agreed when Powell asked her to take charge of the group in early 1996.

The actions of the Howard government in July 1996 caused a dramatic change of pace. June’s ability as a public speaker and persuasive writer, coupled with an upbringing in political activism, fuelled the campaign ‘Save Our ABC’.

Media coverage of the government’s cuts to the ABC was hard to miss.

June’s letters to The Age in Melbourne in 1996 led to people making contact with her (not unlike events in 1976 when Aunty’s Nieces and Nephews formed).  Shirley Parkes was one of those in 1996 who decided the situation needed an active response.

The group set about organising rallies, picnics, and public protests. They produced a book, ‘Save Our ABC’, with contributions from Peter Craven, Robert Manne, Natasha Stott Despoja, Geraldine Doogue and Frank Brennan.

The introduction was written by June Factor and Sir Rupert Hamer, who was president of Friends of the ABC Victoria 1988–1992.  They wrote that the intention of the book was ‘to persuade the current Federal government – and subsequent governments – that the ABC is a national treasure which they have the responsibility, on our behalf, to cherish and support.’

June Factor was made a life member of ABC Friends Victoria in 2022, two years before she passed away in 2024.

ABC Rally, Brisbane 1996

August 1996: rallying season

Rallies have traditionally given the public a chance to declare their support for a cause: a slew of rallies took place in August 1996 to let ABC supporters do precisely that.

The first, at The Domain in Sydney on 4 August, was organised by ABC staff – journalists Maxine McHugh and Quentin Dempster shared the stage with Jemima from Play School and the Bananas in Pyjamas, before Christine Anu, Roy and H.G. and the Sydney Symphony Orchestra among others entertained an estimated crowd of 60,000.

A stall run by NSW Friends of the ABC enabled 4,000 letters to be written by members of the public to politicians. Among the many speakers was magistrate Pat O’Shane, who took issue with Bob Mansfield saying he did not want the inquiry he was then chairing into the ABC to become ‘emotional’. Pat O’Shane’s response was to declare ‘we are entitled to be emotional about the things we care about and if he can’t stand our emotional heat, he should get out of the kitchen cabinet.’

Rallies continued across Australia. Friends of the ABC in Queensland spokesman George Blair spoke at an event in Brisbane on 10 August calling for ‘protection’ of the ABC.

While in Melbourne, the City Council provided the Melbourne Town Hall for a rally and concert on 12 August organised by Friends of the ABC.

June Factor’s committee produced a stylish program for the occasion. It was almost a manifesto, with statements affirming the value of the ABC from groups such as the Council on the Ageing Victoria and the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, as well as listing ’10 good reasons’ to save the ABC.

Glenys Stradijot, then a Friends of the ABC Victoria volunteer and later employed as campaign director, remembers the part the ABC itself played in the Melbourne rally.

In September, ABC Managing Director Brian Johns addressed a Friends of the ABC rally in Adelaide, describing the proposed cuts as ‘not a pruning exercise, but wrenching’ in their impact. He made a point of referring to ‘the public outcry’ shown by the rallies.

The Melbourne office

The Victorian branch of Friends of the ABC established an office in 1996. It was partly the consequence of a new volunteer, Glenys Stradijot, who was later employed on a part-time basis as campaign organiser. She brought considerable understanding of campaign work, gained from her experience as an electorate officer.

Glenys was brought into the Friends by June Factor. She set up a newsletter, Vic News, and wrote media releases for campaign actions. She could see the Friends campaign would not be over quickly – an office would offer many advantages.

The Friends of the ABC office was relocated to South Melbourne later, and then to the centre of Melbourne. Many people visited throughout the week – to help, to plan (and at times, to argue). Rosie Spear was a regular, as a committee member and committed activist.

Campaign work varied, but for Rosie Spear, getting the public involved was crucial.

Rosie Spear is still on the Victorian committee of Friends of the ABC, coordinating volunteers. Glenys Stradijot worked for Friends of the ABC in Victoria until 2015, earning the gratitude and respect of many in the organisation.

Political appointments to the ABC Board

The ABC Board is responsible for making policy decisions about the ABC, determining the priorities of its operations. The decisions about who sits on the board are crucial – and at many times, they have been contentious. This was particularly so during the Howard government years, and the issue of board appointments persisted as a matter of concern to ABC Friends.

The government of the day appoints the chair of the ABC and its board (other than the staff-elected director when that position exists). From the start, appointments were often politically driven – historian Ken Inglis has described them as ‘acts of political patronage’ – by both Labor and Coalition governments.

In 1998, Senator Richard Alston announced that Michael Kroger would join the ABC Board. Kroger had been president of the Victorian Liberal Party from 1987 until 1992, and was still active in its affairs. His presence on the ABC Board was perceived by many as a political appointment too far.

In 2001, a Senate inquiry into ABC Board appointments was set up. Friends of the ABC called on supporters to write in favour of a system based on merit and commitment to public broadcasting.

In 2005, anthropologist Ron Brunton of the Institute of Public Affairs was appointed to the ABC Board, followed by columnist at The Australian Janet Albrechtsen, and editor of right-wing Quadrant, historian Keith Windschuttle in 2006.  

In 2012, an amendment to the ABC Act called for an arm’s length merit-based shortlisting selection process. However, an appointment can still be made outside the selection process by the Prime Minister or Communications Minister announcing it in Parliament.

Friends of the ABC Queensland

Friends of the ABC in Queensland had its first meeting on 29 November 1976, attended by 500 people. It was an active branch for several years, but appears to have gone into recess during the 1980s – until a relaunch in 1989.

Current president of ABC Friends Queensland, Vikki Uhlmann, is undertaking a search of its archives, many of which are kept by the University of Queensland’s Fryer Library. She has discovered an unusually close relationship between the ABC and Friends of the ABC Queensland when the branch resumed, as well as one distinctive individual member.

Elisabeth McClement’s achievements were recognised at the time. Her name occurs in a speech given on 7 December 1999 by Queensland politician Desley Boyle urging fellow members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly to join the Friends of the ABC:

‘I encourage all members, especially those from rural and regional areas of Queensland, to join the Friends of the ABC, so ably led by Elisabeth McClement in Queensland, to speak out for the importance and for the standards of our national ABC broadcasting.’

Vikki Uhlmann has been trying to discover more about Elisabeth McClement from the available records.

Vikki Uhlmann is continuing to explore the development of ABC Friends in Queensland, its connection to the politics of the state and the commitment of the group’s members.

2001 Rally

The event was covered by ABC News in this television report.

Reflection: ABC Friends people

ABC Friends objectives are in some ways uncontroversial – who can argue with ‘good health’ for a public institution? But the ABC’s very existence has been threatened more than once with the result that people who have joined ABC Friends are often highly motivated and passionate about its survival.

There are different factors influencing involvement with the Friends, stemming from affection for the ABC as an audience member, to more political commitment to public service broadcasting. Some active members become fascinated by the intellectual challenge of topical media issues; others enjoy the social contact that participation brings.

There have been occasional surveys of members. Friends of the ABC NSW conducted a survey in 1979 as part of its submission to the Dix Inquiry. It found members were predominantly female, middle aged and middle class. Leonie Miller, a member of the ABC Friends Victoria committee in the 2010s has seen a similar class demographic during her time:

It tends to be people who are older, retired, a bit better off, a bit better educated, who listened to the ABC or watched it, but particularly I think people who listen to things like Radio National and possibly Classic FM. They tend to be the people who join ABC friends.

Responses to a survey of member in 2023 by ABC Friends South Australia suggested women over 60 were the largest group. While the 1979 survey had inquired about members’ ABC program interests, 2023 Friends were asked more about the kind of collective activity they would prefer to undertake. Their responses ranked political campaigning more highly than social get togethers. ABC Friends members currently debate the framing of ‘consumer’ or ‘citizen’ as the primary basis for advocacy of the ABC.

Heather D’Cruz, a Victorian member since the 1990s, has noted the limited ethnic participation in ABC Friends:

Most of the membership of the friends of the ABC are educated people in New South Wales and Victoria, mostly white people, Anglo people, who have a very strong nostalgic connection to the ABC…I’m from India, I’m Eurasian, so I do have a brown skin and dark hair and I look obviously not a white person…I mainly support the Friends of the ABC because I think the ABC is so essential for the news and independence for our democracy.

Both ABC Friends NSW and Victoria current strategy documents include an objective to attract a more diverse membership to the organisation.

Support for ABC Friends covers a spectrum of activity, from committed activists ‘on the job’ for hours each week, to those who may turn out at occasional events and rallies. ABC Friends NSW membership secretary for many years Angela Williamson would make a point of regularly contacting local branches:

I took a personal interest in all our members. I couldn’t reach all of them, but as many as I could, I did. Every day I’d be doing something – I would put in probably, 10 to 20 hours a week on ABC Friends routinely.  

ABC Friends NSW and Victoria have cultivated local groups or branches. These have the advantage of building on established affiliations to a locality and its political representatives; the disadvantage is that groups can become small. Their activities include meeting the public at stalls, gathering to write letters to politicians, organising events with guest speakers – and all of these during federal election campaigns. While groups occasionally fold, others are established and the total number has remained broadly similar over the last thirty years – something to celebrate!